[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 44: Birth of a Mech

Remembering that Marcella hadn't gotten back to him about a customer, he called up her number.

"Heya Ves. I know what you're calling for. The deal has just been completed." Marcella smirked as she said her next words. "Guess how much credits he threw at me to order your mech?"

"Did you manage to sell it at twenty-four million?"

"Hah! That's chump change. It's much higher!"

"Twenty-five? Twenty-six?"

"Nope." Marcella gestured with her hands to bring up an invoice in the projector. "Look for yourself what magic I achieved."

His eyes practically bulged out as he saw that Marcella's customer ordered his mech for a whopping twenty-eight million credits. The huge price figure amounted to a gross profit of eleven million credits if he delivered his mech in time and in good condition. It certainly raised his faith of Marcella's ability. Perhaps partnering with her was the best decision Ves ever made.

Marcella tapped her fingers onto her desk, snapping him out of his dreams. "Don't get too excited buddy. Running a mech business isn't a casual undertaking. You have to properly plan for your expenses. If you factor in your interest payments, your tax burden, your capital assets depreciation, then you'll find that your net profits is a lot smaller than you thought."

The excitement in his eyes died down. She was right, of course. "Well, my taxes will at least be lightened. The planetary government is already processing my preferable treatment status. I should be able to get my tax rate reduced to fifteen percent."

Such a low tax rate was very favorable to Ves already. If he setup his business in Bentheim, then he'd have to fork out thirty-five percent even with preferable treatment.

"Your expenses and other burdens are lower than most other mech designers, but don't forget your business is a one-man show. Your scale can't compared to most small-to-medium enterprises that have based themselves in Bentheim for years. The industry revolves around a minimum amount of scale production. If you want to improve your mechs, you need better machines, and that means you have to start saving money now."

Ves nodded, understanding the importance of what she said. His 3D printer and assembler were good for a decade, maybe two if he stretched it and installed some upgrades, but eventually he wanted to move up to using more capable machines worth billions of credits.

"I've got so many things to spend my money on." Ves lamented to himself. Earning a couple of billion credits was a pipedream for most people. Even seasoned mech designers often despaired at the costs their businesses demanded.

"In any case, just do your work. I'll be expecting a satisfactory result within ten days if you want to ship your mech to the client in time. Will you be able to make it in that time?"

He nodded with confidence. His planning stretched out the fabrication process to nine days already, which was a lengthy time for an average mech. Considering it was his first time doing it for real, he wanted to slow down and produce each part with meticulous care.

"I'll have the mech delivered to the local branch of the MTA within nine days for inspection if there's no problems. I don't expect any delays, but I doubt I'll get slowed down more than a day at most."

"Good, because a lot is riding on this deal. This is your chance to break into the market, Ves, so nothing can go wrong."

After a bit of lecturing by Marcella, she finally hung up, leaving Ves free to begin his work. He pulled up his sleeves and checked his plans for the last time. Nothing appeared out of place. He had the materials, the equipment and the time he needed to fashion his first mech into existence.